A Check Point Software Technologies, an international provider of cybersecurity solutions, is reminding African organizations of the importance of cybersecurity training for employees, following the recent cyberattack on Shoprite Holdings.
Shoprite announced that it has suffered a suspicious data compromise that has affected its money transfer services. The company released a statement that confirmed the attack and that the compromised data included names and identification numbers, but no financial information.
According to Check Point, RansomHouse claimed that around 600GB of data was required. The attackers said the lack of cybersecurity practices by Shoprite employees was easy to exploit, with many keeping large amounts of personal data in unprotected plain text.
In the first quarter of 2022, Check Point Research saw a 23% increase in ransomware attacks compared to 2021 – with 1 in 44 organizations now impacted weekly on average. This is compared to 1 in 53 impacted organizations globally. Ransomware attacks are becoming the most lucrative type of cyber crime, they allow criminal gangs to earn huge profits. In the last few months alone, these attacks have disrupted large organizations in South Africa.
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In response to the attack, Shoprite Holdings was quick to implement additional security measures, including changing authentication processes and detection strategies, and locking down affected areas of the network. “While these measures are good, they still reflect another worrying reality,” says Pankaj Bhula: EMEA Regional Director at Check Point Africa.
CheckPoint maintains that to strengthen the defense against ransomware, organizations must have a robust and secure data backup solution, provide frequent cybersecurity awareness training to all employees, especially regarding phishing attacks, and apply a strong password policy, requiring the use of multi-authentication.
